People’s Choice honors to be determined by voting on nonprofit’s Facebook page
Big Waters Land Trust, formerly the Conservation Foundation of the Gulf Coast, has announced the juried selections and winners of its sixth annual Summer Photo Contest.
Photographers of all ages and experience levels were invited to submit their original works to the online competition, which was planned to showcase “the beauty of natural Florida,” a news release says.
The three-member jury responsible for selecting the top 50 images for inclusion in the exhibit included “acclaimed photographer Larry Allan, renowned videographer and photographer Karen Arango,” and Darcy Kelly-Laviolette, executive creative director of Sarasota Scene Magazine, the release adds.
When making their selections, the jurors evaluated the submissions on the basis of composition, color, contrast, and point of view, as well as “whether the image told a story, and how well the image fit the category” in which it was entered, the release explains. In addition to selecting the images for the exhibit, the release adds, the jurors honored a winner in each category, along with a best-In-show award for the competition. The photographers’ names were omitted during the selection process, the release notes.
The public may view not only the winning images but also the full exhibit online on Big Waters’ website and Facebook page, the release points out.
The jury-selected winners for each category are as follows:
- In Love with the Land – Telegraph Swamp Cypress by Ethan Coyle.
- The Art of Nature — Bolt from The Blue by Christopher Berg.
- Beautiful Waters and Best-In-Show — Sea of Fish and Light by Brice Claypoole.
- It’s A Wild Life — Mother’s Love by Liz Leibham.
- Youth Perspective — Sunset by Sylvia Adams
- Honorable Mention — Feast of Fish by Andrew Furness.
People’s Choice voting, which is taking place on Big Waters’ Facebook page, will continue through Labor Day, Sept. 2, the release points out. “At the end of the voting period, the photo with the most likes/loves in each category will be deemed the People’s Choice Category Winner. The image with the most likes/loves overall will be the People’s Choice Best-In-Show,” the release adds.
“All voting will take place on Facebook, and the likes/loves must be on the original image in the Big Waters Land Trust 2025 Summer Photo Contest gallery to be counted,” the release explains. “People’s Choice winners will be announced on Facebook throughout the day” on Tuesday, Sept. 1, the release says.